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Who is Deniz Yücel — and why is the German-Turkish journalist still on trial?

The ongoing trial against German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel highlights the dysfunctional state of Turkey's judicial system. Once a hostage, he is now free and back in Germany. But other journalists aren't so lucky.

German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel may be free in Germany, but he is still on trial in Turkey.

The first trial hearing in absentia of the Die Welt correspondent on June 28 laid bare the politicized and dysfunctional Turkish judiciary.

It's a world where critical voices and the media are terrorized, intimidated, muzzled and criminalized. More than 200 journalists are locked away in prisons or awaiting trial, based on trumped up terrorism-related charges, shoddy investigations and fraudulent and circumstantial "evidence," according to critics.

The roundup of journalists and shuttering of media outlets has led to reporting fatigue on the issue in the Western media, helped along in part by the Byzantine complexity of the Turkish legal system.

Yet the case of the scruffy bearded foreign correspondent drew massive attention in Germany, mobilizing the public, media and top officials to rally to his cause. The perceived political hostage taking represented a jab by the large arm of the Turkish state into German press freedom — and nobody was going to have it.

At times, the state of German-Turkish relations seemed to hinge on Yücel's release from prison. In some ways that made Yücel lucky compared to his colleagues in Turkey, who lack the same diplomatic backing and have become another helpless statistic.

After his arrest in 2017, Yücel was held without a formal indictment being filed until this February. He was released from pretrial detention after a year in prison, 10 months of which were spent in solitary confinement.

He returned to Germany immediately after his release, which was widely viewed as the result of high-level political horse-trading.

Yet the German-born journalist continues to face charges of "engaging in terrorist propaganda" and "inciting the public to enmity and hatred" for his reporting.

Yücel faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted in absentia. He will testify at the next hearing in December via video link after an Istanbul court refused to drop the case on Thursday.

The German public was instrumental in keeping the Yücel case in the spotlight

His lawyer, Veysel Ok, said Yücel's case is unique because he was a high-profile foreign correspondent who had been a repeated target of top politicians.

"From the day he was arrested up until the hearing, this case's unique characteristic is that it reveals the extent of interference in the judiciary and how politics and judiciary are intertwined," he told DW by phone.

The high-profile case also drew German public attention to the justice system in Turkey, where according to Ok "ridiculous and sloppy indictments" leading to drawn-out trials and detentions are the norm.

Yücel became a target of the Turkish government through his critical reporting on sensitive topics, such as the Kurdish issue, the Syrian war and hacked documents.

The dual German-Turkish national was initially detained after he voluntarily went to the Istanbul Police Department on February 14, 2017 to give a deposition after pro-government media reports suggested he was under investigation in the so-called Redhack case, which also implicated other journalists. The investigation into Yücel was launched after authorities received an anonymous tipoff about his involvement.

Yücel had written for Die Welt on the leaks published by the leftist hacker group Redhack allegedly revealing emails from the private account of Berat Albayrak, the energy minister and the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The emails detail Turkish support for Syrian jihadi rebel groups and attempts to control the media.

The government banned reporting on the hacked emails and cracked down on webpages that did.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

July 2007: Abdullah Gul becomes Turkey's first Islamist president

After years of free market reforms, Turkey's transition slowly begins to reverse. Islamist Abdullah Gul's candidacy as president in 2007 marks a clear shift away from secularist policies, and strains relations between the ruling AKP and the military. However, with broad support from both conservative Muslims and liberals, the AKP wins the parliamentary elections and Gul is elected president.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

September 2010: Constitutional reforms take hold

Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tables a constitutional reform increasing parliamentary control of the judiciary and army, effectively allowing the government to pick judges and senior military officials. The amendment, which is combined with measures also aimed at protecting child rights and the strengthening of the right to appeal, passed by a wide margin in a public referendum.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

May 2013: Dissent erupts in Gezi Park

Pent-up anger directed by young people at Erdogan, Gul and the Islamist-rooted AKP hits a boiling point in May 2013. The violent police breakup of a small sit-in aimed at protecting Istanbul's Gezi Park spurs one of the fiercest anti-government protests in years. Eleven people are killed and more than 8,000 injured, before the demonstrations eventually peter out a month later.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

July 2015: Turkey relaunches crackdown against Kurds

A fragile ceasefire deal between the Turkish government and the Kurdish rebel PKK group breaks under the weight of tensions aggravated by the war in Syria. Military forces resume operations in the mostly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. In early 2016, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) — a breakaway PKK faction — claim responsibility for two bombings in Ankara, each killing 38 people.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

July 2016: Military coup attempt falls short

A military coup attempt against the government shakes Turkey to its core and briefly turns the country into a war zone. Some 260 civilians die in overnight clashes with the army across five major cities. Erdogan, however, rallies supporters and the following morning rebel soldiers are ambushed by thousands of civilians on the Bosporus Bridge. The troops eventually drop their guns and surrender.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

July 2016: President Erdogan enacts a state of emergency

In the aftermath of the failed coup, Erdogan announces a state of emergency, leading to arrests of tens of thousands of suspected coup sympathizers and political opponents. Among those detained are military and judiciary officials and elected representatives from the pro-Kurdish HDP party. The purge is later expanded to include civil servants, university officials and teachers.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

2016: Crackdown on the press

As part of Erdogan's crackdown against supposed "terrorist sympathizers," Turkey becomes one of the world's leading jailers of journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders. The government shuts down around 110 media outlets in the year following the coup and imprisons more than 100 journalists, including German-Turkish correspondent Deniz Yücel.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

March 2017: AKP officials try to stoke support in Western Europe

With a referendum on expanding Erdogan's presidential powers set for April 2016, AKP officials look to galvanize support among Turks living in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands forbids Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from landing in the country, while Germany opts to cancel two rallies. Erdogan accuses both countries of Nazi-style repression.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

April 2017: Erdogan clinches referendum vote

Erdogan narrowly wins the referendum vote expanding his power. As a result, Turkey's parliamentary system is abolished in favor of a strong executive presidency. Erdogan is also allowed to remain in power potentially until 2029. However, international election monitors claim that opposition voices were muzzled and that media coverage was dominated by figures from the "yes" campaign.

Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism

June 2018: Election wins secure Erdogan's power

Erdogan secures a new five-year term and sweeping new executive powers after winning landmark elections on June 24. His AKP and their nationalist allies also win a majority in parliament. International observers criticize the vote, saying media coverage and emergency measures gave Erdogan and the AKP an "undue advantage" in the vote.

Author: David Martin

However, after 13 days in custody, an entirely different set of charges related to terrorism and incitement were leveled against Yücel and his file was separated from the Redhack case. He was then sent to a high-security prison outside Istanbul pending trial without evidence or an indictment.

The indictment

During this time, pro-government media and Erdogan on multiple occasions referred to Yücel as a German "spy" and a Kurdish militant "terrorist." For a while in prison, he had no access to German diplomats.

In running this campaign, the pro-government media and ruling party politicians were trying to "create perceptions in the public" that Yücel was a dangerous criminal needing to be held in solitary confinement, Ok said.

"There was a big expectation created by the media and politicians that there was a pile of evidence against Yücel," Ok said.

Yet when an indictment was presented and accepted by the court this February, it turned out to be only two-and-a-half pages long. One page consisted of mandatory personal information, the second was mostly a list of Yücel's news headlines and another just a half-page demanding a prison sentence.

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Turkey is a 'divided country'

Turkey is a 'divided country'

In other words, OK said, police and prosecutors were unable to find any evidence against Yücel beyond news reports and vague allegations citing contact with "terrorists."

The "terrorists" refer to journalists, civil society groups, lawyers, news sources, parliamentarians and officials who Yücel contacted as part of his work, according to the defense, which says these alleged "terrorists" have not been convicted.

Tens of thousands of people in Turkey are in prison or facing trial for alleged ties to the Gulen movement, which the government has blamed for the failed coup attempt in 2016, or for alleged ties to Kurdish militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Meanwhile, as the Turkish court system slowly moves along, Yücel's case is before the European Court of Human Rights, where the court is likely to rule against Turkey.